Flexible door.



F. A. COLEMAN. FLEXIBLE DOOR.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 12. 1915. I LQQfiQfi. PatentedApr. 16, 1918.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

F. A. COLEMAN.

FLEXIBLE DOOR.

APPLICATION FILED APR.12 1915.

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' full, clear, and exact 'description, reference being had tothe accompanying drawings.

An object of this invention is to provide a simple eficient flexible door which may be conveniently stored on a roller at one side of the opening which it closes, and which may be cheaply manufactured and easily operated when in use. My door is constructed of a series of contiguous hollow metal parallel sections, and an object is so to arrange the door that when in positlon, a

' dead air space is provided within each secwall on which the door is carried and the.

tion, thereby obtalning a very eflicient heat insulation. Another object is to raise and lower the door by flexible members having an engagement with successive slats and extending to the storing means. A feature of my invention is the preventing of the binding in the ways guiding the door, as'well as obviating the usual separate connecting means which are commonly secured to the ends of the sections and revent ready removal and replacement of roken or inJured sections. I 7

Other features of my invention will become apparent in the following. specification which refers to the drawings, and the essential characteristics are hereinafter set forth in the claims.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a front elevation of my, door, some of the parts being broken away for clearness of illustration; Fig. 2 is a vertical cross section through the casing covering the same; F ig.- 3 is a vertical transverse section through the roller for receiving the door; Fig. 4 is an enlarged sectional detail of a preferred form of the sections; Fig. 5 is an enlarged sectional detail of a modified form of the sections; Fig. 6 is a sectional detail showing still another form of sections which may be used; Fig. 7 is a detail of the end portion of sections showing an alternate form of suspension, and Fig. 8 is an end elevation of the same.

Referring to the. drawings by reference numerals, 10 indicates a wall carryingmy door and having an opening 12 which the door is adapted to close when in its lowered Specification of Letters Iatent. Application filed a... 1a, 1915. Serial No. 20,017.

the second turn.

Patented Ap 1c, 1918.

position. The parallel sections 14 of which the door is composed,'are shown as guided at thelr ends in channels 16'shown as secured to the-wall by angle clips 17. The door may be raised and lowered by flexible members 18 extending through each of the sections and shown as secured to the lower sections at 20, and to eyelets '21 in a radial shoulder of the roller 22.

The roller is adapted to receive the door and the radial shoulder provides for the doorlying smoothl on itself as it comes to mounted on a shaft 24 carried in outwardly ceive the shaft, each of the bearings being his roller is shown as 7 provided with a removable cap 26 to allow removal of the roller when desir One end of the shaft 24 isextended outwardlyoast its hearings to receive a rigidly mounte worm gear 30. This worm gear is shown as driven by a worm 32 on 'a shaft 33, shown as mounted in bearings 34 and 35,

carried on arms extended from-the brackets 25. On one end of the shaft 33 is a wheel 36 havmg pockets adapted to receive the links of a hand chain 38 extending downwardly in front of the door. It will be seen that the door may be raised and lowered by drawing on the hand chain 38 thereby rotating the worm and worm gear, which in turn drives the roller for the door: If desired, the roller may be made to rotate more rapidly by providing intermediate gearing between the chain wheel and the worm. It is to be understood that this mechanism ,is merely illustrative of any suitable mechanism for raising and lowerlng the door.

Although the roller may be of any suitable construction, it is shown as comprising a metal sheet 40, secured to disk members 42 mounted on the shaft 24 and each having'a radial shoulder as heretofore described, and shown as receiving the eyelets2l to which are attached the flexible members 18. I There is'preferably one of these disks 42 at each end of the door as well as at intermediate positions opposite the flexible members.

It is very desirable that the parallel contiguous sections of the door should articulate freely on each other and have as well a hollow interior in which air is substantially prevented from circulating, thereby affording a door which will act as a good nonconductor of excessive heat, to which it would be subjected in case of fire or when contiguous section. .When this form of sec-.

used as a closure for an oven, a furnace,

Below the parallel portions 50 the sides are. curved inwardly and then upwardly, presenting a concave portion a, which is complementary to the COlIlChVQPOIIllOIl 52 of the v tion is used the lower section preferabl has all outwardly turned flanges: 56, at the ower edgesot the parallel portions 50, and adapted to rest on an suitable stop at the bottom of the door. he .ends of these a a are cut away adjacent the deways or the door, so as not to interfere with its move ment. I

'lhe flexible members 18 may be in the form of small cables, preferably of metal, although it is obvious that they may be chains or .any other suitable connecting means. 'llhese cables are shown as extending loosely through each of the sections of the door to the lower section, to which they are secured by having an enlargement 58 at their lower ends and adapted to engage U-shaped members 59 mounted in the upper portion of the inside of the lower section and through which the ends of the cables extend.

In the form shown in Fig. 5, the sections 14 are substantially in the form of a cylindrical tube having been split longitudinally and the edges curled inwardly as at 60, thus presenting curved convex spaced portions 61, on which the convex surface of the tube above may rest, thereby closing this opening and preventing the circulation of air into and out of the section.

- The form shown in Fig. 6 is also that of a cylindrical tube having been split longitudinally and the adjacent edges turned outwardly as at 63, and made concave to receive the convex portion of the next section. lit it is desired to secure any of the intermediate sections to the cable, a ferrule may be provided as indicated at 65, within the sections, having an intermediate portion embracing the fiexible member and having outwardly turned flangesengaging the section.

In Figs. 7 and 8, is illustrated another method of supporting the'hollow metal sections of my door, in which sections such as those shown in Fig. '6, for example, have inserted in their ends closures 70, preferably formed of cup-shaped sheet metal mem-v bers having their closed ends 71 within the accents :cally opposite points of their projecting portions, and the ed s are curled inwardly as'at 73, leaving a su1table space for a chain 7 5.

'lhis chain is shown as having alternate fiat links 76, and some of the intermediate links '(7 of the chain, are adapted to embrace transverse pins .7 8 mounted in the projecting portionsof the members 70. flhese chains may be secured. to a'suitablestoring means such as a roller, in a manner similartothat heretofore described in connection (with the flexible members 18.. When this constructionv is used, there are provided iuefl'ect extensions of the sections, which close the ends of the same and thro'ughfwhich the flexible members may extend so. that any orall' of the sections may be attached to these flexi ble members as desired. I

It will be seen from the foregoing description that l havev provided a door of a strong durable nature, not easily damaged and with no parts to get out of order. .My door being supported at various points of its width will necessarily run evenly and smoothly in its guideway and will be prevented t'rom sagging. in substantially dead air space is provided within each section of my door, the only open space'being at the ends, which are closed either by the channel guideways or by the extensions 71.

Having thus described my invention, what ll claim is: 4

1. In a device of the character described, the combination of a closure composedv of a series of parallel contiguous hollow metal sections, closing members for the ends of said sections, flexible members extending through said closing members and attached to SOIHQOf them, and guideways engaging said sections. o I

2. In a door of the character-described, the combination of a pluralityot parallel hollow sections each having a cavity on one side and a convex portion on the other side adapted to enter the cavity-of the next adjacent section thereby closing'the side of- In testimony whereof, llhereuntoafix my signature in the presence of two witnesses FREDERICK A. COLEMAN. Witnesses: jv

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